What&#39;s Going On Here : santa anitahttp://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/tags/santa+anita/default.aspxTags: santa anitaenCommunityServer 2007.1 (Build: 20917.1142)Intrigue Times Three - By Eric Mitchellhttp://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2013/10/23/intrigue-times-three-by-eric-mitchell.aspxWed, 23 Oct 2013 18:27:00 GMTb1464f20-99eb-45e5-b651-41da03ecff36:466196Jennifer Whittle2http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=466196http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2013/10/23/intrigue-times-three-by-eric-mitchell.aspx#comments<span class="postData" data-issuedate="October 26, 2013" data-authorname="Eric Mitchell" data-authortwitter="BH_EMitchell" data-authorimage="http://www.bloodhorse.com/images/content/EricMitchellAEtn.jpg"></span>
<p>Three colts are charging down the stretch shoulder-to-shoulder toward 3-year-old championship honors. Glory is within the grasp of each, but who captures it will not be decided until Nov. 2 around 5:45 p.m. PDT at Santa Anita Park.</p><p>The fate of all three will be determined at this time (lengthy objection notwithstanding) in the wake of the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I). Two contenders will face each other in the Classic while the third will take a different route on the Breeders’ Cup World Championships’ Friday card and hope his challengers wilt on Saturday.<br><br>Travers Stakes (gr. I) winner Will Take Charge and Belmont Stakes (gr. I) winner Palace Malice are expected to line up in the Classic against a deep group of older horses including Game On Dude, who is undefeated in five graded stakes this year, and Fort Larned and Mucho Macho Man, who finished 1-2 in last year’s Classic.<br><br>Not much, at this point, separates the championship credentials of Will Take Charge and Palace Malice. <br><br>Palace Malice stands out for taking the Belmont over this year’s other classic winners—Orb, winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), and Oxbow, who won the Preakness Stakes (gr. I). Oxbow finished second in the Belmont by 3 1/4 lengths, with Orb another 3 1/4 lengths back in third. Palace Malice, a son of Curlin—Palace Rumor, by Royal Anthem, went on to beat Will Take Charge in the Jim Dandy Stakes (gr. II) and to finish second to a freakishly good Ron the Greek in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational Stakes (gr. I).<br><br>Between the Jim Dandy and the Jockey Club Gold Cup, however, is the race that could be a factor in crowning this year’s champion. Will Take Charge won the Travers by a nose over gutsy Dwyer Stakes (gr. II) winner Moreno, but behind them were Orb in third and Palace Malice in fourth. <br><br>Even farther back in the Travers’ final order of finish was our third challenger in the 3-year-old colt championship chase—Verrazano. The bay son of More Than Ready—Enchanted Rock, by Giant’s Causeway, finished sixth that August day at Saratoga Race Course. But the Travers loss hasn’t necessarily knocked Verrazano out of the chase.<br><br>Let’s go back for a moment to Will Take Charge, who grabbed the baton from Oxbow for the second half of the racing year and is helping maintain Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas’ enormously successful ride through 2013. The colt, by Unbridled’s Song—Take Charge Lady, by Dehere, has won four stakes so far this year, including three graded stakes—the Travers, Pennsylvania Derby (gr. II), and the Rebel Stakes (gr. II).<br><br>Right now Willis Horton’s Will Take Charge has a nose in front heading to the Eclipse Awards, having beaten both Palace Malice and Verrazano in the Travers. Head-to-head competition is important in deciding champions, and though Will Take Charge was second to Palace Malice in the Jim Dandy, reversing the tables in the more prestigious Mid-Summer Derby carries more weight.<br><br>A victory in the Classic would assuredly seal the deal for Will Take Charge; even a close second or third may be enough if Dogwood Stable’s Palace Malice runs off the board.<br><br>If Palace Malice wins the Classic and Will Take Charge is nowhere near the wire, he would land the Eclipse trophy. The colt, trained by Todd Pletcher, would then own two grade I stakes in two of the country’s highest-profile races.<br><br>Verrazano is the spoiler in the wings. Owned by Let’s Go Stable, Michael Tabor, Susan Magnier, and Derrick Smith, Verrazano will face his Breeders’ Cup World Championships test in the Dirt Mile (gr. I). While not exactly a race known for christening champions, a victory in the Dirt Mile would give Verrazano his third grade I victory (he also won the William Hill Haskell Invitational and the Wood Memorial Stakes) and his fifth graded stakes win of the year. If Will Take Charge and Palace Malice are both also-rans in the Classic and Verrazano runs away with the Dirt Mile, then a race known more for longshot upsets may get its first champion.<br><br>It is an intriguing showdown. Pletcher also trains Verrazano and is a former Lukas protégé; a star pupil who already holds five national trainer titles having chased down his mentor, who has four national titles of his own.<br><br>Such scenarios are what everyone hopes for in an end-of-season championship, and this year Breeders’ Cup will deliver. <br><br></p><img src="http://cs.bloodhorse.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=466196" width="1" height="1">breeders' cupsanta anitatodd pletcherMucho Macho ManGame On DudeD. Wayne LukasPalace MaliceFort LarnedWill Take ChargeVerrazanoBreeders' Cup ClassicSite Might - by Evan Hammondshttp://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2013/06/18/site-might-by-evan-hammonds.aspxTue, 18 Jun 2013 12:55:00 GMTb1464f20-99eb-45e5-b651-41da03ecff36:426216aspradling9http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=426216http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2013/06/18/site-might-by-evan-hammonds.aspx#comments<p><i>(Originally published in the June 22, 2013 issue of <a href="https://subscribe.bloodhorse.com/tbh_sub.aspx?productId=SUB-BH-S&amp;promo=CQ08Z258BH" target="_blank">The
Blood-Horse magazine</a>. Feel free to share your own thoughts and
opinions at
the bottom of the column.</i>) </p><p><i>By Evan Hammonds - <a href="http://www.twitter.com/#!/BH_EHammonds" target="_blank" mce_href="http://www.twitter.com/#!/BH_EHammonds">@BH_EHammonds</a> on Twitter</i> </p><p>
<img src="http://www.bloodhorse.com/images/content/EvanHammondsAEtn.jpg" class="PicLeft" mce_src="http://www.bloodhorse.com/images/content/EvanHammondsAEtn.jpg" alt="By Evan Hammonds" align="left" border="" height="100" hspace="10" vspace="" width="140"> Close your eyes, click your heels together three times, and repeat after me: There’s no place like Santa Anita, there’s no place like Santa Anita, there’s no place like Santa Anita.<br><br>That was the message coming from Breeders’ Cup after it was recently announced that Santa Anita Park would host the World Championships in 2014 for the third year in a row—an unprecedented run for The Stronach Group’s “Great Race Place” in Arcadia, Calif.<br><br>Is it a good deal for the event and the industry? We think so.<br><br>“The original concept behind the Breeders’ Cup was to create a major media event,” Breeders’ Cup board member John Nerud told The Blood-Horse in the weeks leading up to the inaugural event at Hollywood Park in 1984. “That is why it is so important in the beginning years to have Cup Day held in the major media markets such as Los Angeles or New York.”<br><br>The landscape of racing has been redeveloped in the 30 years since the first running. The Breeders’ Cup has been run in seven states and one Canadian province, but let’s face it, the game needs all the buzz it can get and in the world we presently live in, there are only three sure-fire site locations: Santa Anita, Churchill Downs, and Belmont Park.<br><br>A lot has changed since the New York Racing Association last hosted the Breeders’ Cup in 2005. Beyond scandal and the state’s takeover in New York, NYRA did not formally apply to host the 2014 edition. Besides, the World Championships has found its comfort zone shifted from the last weekend in October to the first weekend in November (with some help from Daylight Savings Time also shifting in 2007). The first weekend in November in New York means the New York City Marathon, which takes over 90% of hotel space in the city and essentially shuts down Manhattan on that Sunday, making departure from the Big Apple problematic.<br><br>Lights are also an issue. NBC, which televises the Breeders’ Cup, would prefer the event’s signature event, the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I), be run in East Coast primetime. That requires lights, which they don’t have in New York. Churchill installed permanent lighting in 2010 but when compared to the sunshine in Southern California, which is more appealing?<br><br>“NBC is very enthusiastic about our near-term prospects with Santa Anita,” said Craig Fravel, president and CEO of Breeders’ Cup. “They like the daylight event with the East Coast prime-time broadcast. They were more than pleased with the first-year ratings (in 2012) considering it was the first time out of the box in prime time on network television, and they like the ability to leverage their various entertainment assets they have on the West Coast in terms of celebrity personality that are part of the family of NBC networks that participate with us.”<br><br>While breeders and horsemen from Central Kentucky have grumbled and fans from coast to (nearly) coast have voiced their displeasure, there are more positives in the call for the West Coast trifecta to make it worthwhile.<br><br>• Fair racing surfaces. Last year’s winners came from everywhere. Only three West Coast-based horses won Breeders’ Cup events. Ten of the 15 were won by East Coast and Midwest-based horses—including the first three in the Classic; two from Europe; and we witnessed the first horse to ship and win a Breeders’ Cup race from South America.<br><br>• Economics. There are cost savings in continuity, which was an underlying factor in shift to hosting the Breeders’ Cup in back-to-back years at Santa Anita (2008-09) and at Churchill Downs (2010-11).<br><br>• Southern California sells. Southern California can deliver the weather; fast racing surfaces; and a venue second to none in Santa Anita with its size, Art Deco design, and majestic mountain backdrop.<br><br>Moving forward, the Breeders’ Cup isn’t going to grow the sport on television or on-track as much as it will online through advanced deposit wagering websites and social media platforms.<br><br>We would expect the Breeders’ Cup will return to the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs and to Belmont Park in the years after 2014, but for now, let’s click our heels and repeat: There’s no place like Santa Anita…<br><br></p><img src="http://cs.bloodhorse.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=426216" width="1" height="1">breeders' cupsanta anitaNBCStronach GroupCraig FravelOne for the Road - By Evan Hammondshttp://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2010/11/03/one-for-the-road-by-evan-hammonds.aspxWed, 03 Nov 2010 19:10:00 GMTb1464f20-99eb-45e5-b651-41da03ecff36:143022Blood-Horse Staff13http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=143022http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2010/11/03/one-for-the-road-by-evan-hammonds.aspx#comments<p><i>(Originally published in the November 6, 2010 issue of <a href="https://subscribe.bloodhorse.com/tbh_sub.aspx?productId=SUB-BH-S&amp;promo=CQ08Z258BH" target="_blank">The
Blood-Horse magazine</a>. Feel free to share your own thoughts and
opinions at
the bottom of the column.</i>)&nbsp; </p><p><i>By Evan Hammonds</i>&nbsp;&nbsp; <br></p><p><img src="http://www.bloodhorse.com/images/content/EvanHammondsAEtn.jpg" title="By Evan Hammonds" alt="By Evan Hammonds" mce_src="http://www.bloodhorse.com/images/content/EvanHammondsAEtn.jpg" align="left" height="100" hspace="10" vspace="10" width="140"></p>
<p>&nbsp;It’s impossible to separate the greatest Breeders’ Cup races from the venues in which they occurred. We recall indelible moments in time and place: Personal Ensign’s remarkable rally on a cold, rainy afternoon at Churchill Downs; Sunday Silence holding off Easy Goer’s late charge in the growing darkness at Gulfstream Park; Tiznow running down the long Belmont Park stretch to defend his Classic title in post-9/11 New York; and Zenyatta on a resplendent late afternoon at Santa Anita Park.</p>
<p>Horses and tracks are inextricably linked in the moveable feast that is the Breeders’ Cup. And that’s just what John Gaines envisioned when he proposed the idea of racing’s championship event. Gaines wanted the Breeders’ Cup to rotate among tracks and locales around North America each year, much like the Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four, or the PGA Championship. What better way to create excitement than to tantalize racing fans and entice general sports fans with an ever-changing location? Some diehard Breeders’ Cup fans have traveled to every venue. What better way to let each participating track show off its best attributes to the racing community?</p>
<p>Obviously, some tracks have met the challenge better than others over the first 27 years. Nine tracks in all have participated and it is safe to say just a trifecta are legitimate contenders to host the Breeders’ Cup these days. They are the landmark tracks accustomed to handling big-event days, having the personnel, infrastructure, and resources to do the job well: Churchill Downs with its iconic Twin Spires, Santa Anita Park with its majestic San Gabriel Mountains backdrop, and New York’s venerable Belmont Park.</p>
<p>Monmouth Park in New Jersey gave its best shot in 2007, but miserable weather in late October at a facility built to close after Labor Day undermined its efforts. Arlington Park in Chicago was a close second and has been the best performer to date with the use of temporary stands. </p>
<p>Lone Star Park, the little track that could, really couldn’t in 2004. The original Gulfstream Park was a solid player in 1989, 1992, and 1999, but the new racino version can’t cut it. Woodbine performed admirably in 1996, but Canada in late fall, plus the track’s loss of space to slot machines, makes it a less than ideal candidate. Aqueduct, home of Breeders’ Cup II in 1985, is poised to become a racino as well. And Hollywood Park doesn’t really want to be a racetrack.</p>
<p>Perhaps former <i>Blood-Horse</i> editor Kent Hollingsworth’s toes were still frozen after returning from Aqueduct in 1985 when he wrote in this space that “the Breeders’ Cup should stay in Los Angeles, at Santa Anita or Hollywood Park, whichever track operation can do the best job of promoting Breeders’ Cup Day, at the track and on television.” His assumption was television viewers would prefer a venue that would “be bright and sunny rather than cold and rainy” with “no overcoats in the crowd,” when tuning in racing’s big event.</p>
<p>Twenty-six years later we believe it’s proven the sport and the horses are the show on TV, not what’s happening in the grandstand.</p>
<p>Breeders’ Cup had hoped to make Santa Anita the permanent home of the World Championships, citing the prospect of long-term sponsorship deals, good weather, and proximity to the entertainment community.</p>
<p>A permanent home does not make sense for a lot of reasons, not the least of which are questions about the long-term stability of the ownership entity. Lest we forget, Frank Stronach’s Magna Entertainment Corp. went bankrupt. It was succeeded by Frank Stronach’s MI Developments. California racing is, in a word, unstable.</p>
<p>The Breeders’ Cup also has always been in need of a back-up site. Amazingly, Belmont Park was able to pull off an emotionally charged Breeders’ Cup in 2001 just weeks after 9/11. But just in case, Churchill Downs was ready to pinch hit. </p>
<p>The Breeders’ Cup returns to Churchill Downs in 2011. But after two years we’ll miss the freeways of L.A. and the Manhattan skyline. Let’s hope Breeders’ Cup takes its show on the road in 2012 and beyond. <br></p>
<img src="http://cs.bloodhorse.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=143022" width="1" height="1">breeders' cupchurchill downssanta anitaevan hammondsBelmont ParkSome Real Dirt - By Evan Hammondshttp://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2010/08/24/some-real-dirt-evan-hammonds.aspxTue, 24 Aug 2010 18:36:00 GMTb1464f20-99eb-45e5-b651-41da03ecff36:129884Blood-Horse Staff25http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=129884http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2010/08/24/some-real-dirt-evan-hammonds.aspx#comments<i>Originally published in the August 28, 2010 issue of <a href="https://subscribe.bloodhorse.com/tbh_sub.aspx?productId=SUB-BH-S&amp;promo=CQ08Z258BH" target="_blank" mce_href="https://subscribe.bloodhorse.com/tbh_sub.aspx?productId=SUB-BH-S&amp;promo=CQ08Z258BH">The
Blood-Horse magazine</a>. Feel free to share your own thoughts and
opinions at
the bottom of the column.</i>)&nbsp;&nbsp; <p><i>By Evan Hammonds</i>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://www.bloodhorse.com/images/content/EvanHammondsAEtn.jpg" title="By Evan Hammonds" alt="By Evan Hammonds" mce_src="http://www.bloodhorse.com/images/content/EvanHammondsAEtn.jpg" align="left" vspace="10" width="140" height="100" hspace="10">Earlier this summer, during the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit, the racing community discovered that not enough data have been collected yet to determine whether synthetic tracks are safer than dirt tracks. When the California Horse Racing Board mandated synthetic surfaces at the state’s major venues in a knee-jerk reaction four years ago, there was far less information—only one year of racing at northern Kentucky’s Turfway Park. </p><p>At the time of the mandate, synthetic tracks were “considered” safer than traditional dirt tracks. Are they “considered” safer now? Despite impassioned comments from both sides of the issue, the only safe answer is we still don’t know. But one thing we do know is the synthetic surface installed at Santa Anita has been a mess from the start and has seen more facelifts than Joan Rivers.</p><p>The fact Santa Anita announced it is going to replace the synthetic material with a traditional dirt surface shouldn’t mark the beginning of the end of the synthetic surface era in North American racing, but hopefully only the end of an embarrassing string of canceled cards and bad publicity at the “Great Race Place.”</p><p>It was May 2007 when Santa Anita selected Cushion Track to install a synthetic surface at the Arcadia, Calif., track. After a rousing round of thumbs up when it was unveiled in 2007, the critics started to surface by Santa Anita’s traditional winter-spring meet. Drainage issues—something that clearly shouldn’t happen with the porous nature of a synthetic surface—caused multiple cancellations of racing. Australia-based Pro-Ride came to the rescue, worked with the surface, and made it usable by the Oak Tree stand later that year so the non-profit association could host the first of two Breeders’ Cup Championships.</p><p>What we also have learned from the Polytrack surface at Del Mar and the Cushion Track oval at Hollywood Park is that synthetic surfaces in Southern California are a work in progress. If anything, temperature variables, track maintenance, and the sheer volume of horses training and racing over the surfaces are factors that perhaps didn’t receive enough scrutiny in original projections.</p><p>It’s easy to look in the rearview mirror: Had the CHRB taken a little more time instead of rushing to have these surfaces installed, and, perhaps, track management had done more due diligence to vet out their suppliers, and suppliers had studied Southern California’s climate better, and had the installation—specifically at Santa Anita—been done right in the first place, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.</p><p>Regardless of which side of the synthetic surface debate you’re on doesn’t really matter—everybody is for safer racing for both horse and human. What’s positive about the decision to return to a dirt surface at Santa Anita is that the track should get a better surface than what’s there now. And that’s not a condemnation of all artificial surfaces. It is really a plea for Santa Anita to embrace this chance to install a quality surface. </p><p>Perhaps the safest comment we can make is that this may be Santa Anita’s last chance to get it right.<br><br><i><b>Keeneland’s Crunch</b></i></p><p>Many things in racing come and go, from track surfaces to track management to this season’s top runners. Constancy can be fleeting in the Thoroughbred business.</p><p>That’s why news that Keeneland, bastion of stability, is in a financial crunch comes as something of a surprise. The Lexington racetrack and sales company is cutting people and purses and possibly its charitable contributions in response, officials say, to declining auction revenues.</p><p>The belt-tightening comes on the eve of Keeneland’s 75th anniversary celebration. Founded by a few tough men and built with the help of mules during the Great Depression, the track operated on a shoestring, with Hal Price Headley actually hand-counting racing receipts in the early days. Keeneland today is a beloved local institution and the world’s largest Thoroughbred auction company, whose sales are the barometer of Thoroughbred industry health—yet, until recently, Keeneland itself seemed impervious to any downturn. Indeed, the place has never looked better, from the Rice Road barns to the banks of young trees to the renovated Keene Place mansion.</p><p>Let’s hope that appearances aren’t deceiving and that Keeneland, with prudent guidance, will grow even better with age. Keeneland at the century mark would be something to celebrate. <br></p><img src="http://cs.bloodhorse.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=129884" width="1" height="1">Keenelandwhat's going on heresanta anitaevan hammondsPro-RideCushion TrackSanta Anita Horsemen: Get Out While You Still Canhttp://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2010/03/04/santa-anita-horsemen-get-out-while-you-still-can.aspxThu, 04 Mar 2010 15:42:00 GMTb1464f20-99eb-45e5-b651-41da03ecff36:96479dliebman@bloodhorse.com79http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=96479http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2010/03/04/santa-anita-horsemen-get-out-while-you-still-can.aspx#comments<p>I started to write this column a month ago but several friends said take it easy on Santa Anita after the Feb. 6 card was canceled. That amount of rain, they said, might have caused racing to be canceled at any track. But after the Feb. 27 program was scratched, it is time to say this: If you are a California trainer with an aspiring 3-year-old in your barn: GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN!</p><p>First the Robert B. Lewis (gr. II) was postponed because the Pro-Ride synthetic track at Santa Anita would not drain properly after heavy rain. Then the Sham Stakes (gr. III) was delayed due to the same problem.</p><p>You didn't have to be Jay Leno to come up with the line that the only thing that was a sham at Santa Anita last weekend was the racing surface.<br>Trainers with horses they think might be good enough for a Triple Crown race should be on a plane for points east, be it Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, or New York.</p><p>Or New Mexico. I agree completely with someone who suggested to me yesterday that the Sunland Derby (gr. III) will have a better field this year than the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I). A trainer can get a final prep over a dirt surface, which horses will run over at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, Pimlico for the Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Park for the Belmont Stakes (all gr. I).</p><p>As I wrote last week, this year the Sunland Derby at Sunland Park in New Mexico is worth a hefty $800,000 but more importantly is graded for the first time. The field for the Kentucky Derby is limited to 20 starters based on earnings in graded stakes.</p><p>Horse are not like a light switch where you flip it up and the lights come on and you flip it down and lights go off. Trainers point horses to certain races and trainers look at how many weeks are between races. Yes, trainers can adjust schedules, but that is not the preferred method of handling a horse.</p><p>As Steve Crist pointed out in a recent <i>Daily Racing Form</i> column, Santa Anita canceled four cards due to rain in its first 74 years of existence with a dirt track. The past three years, with a synthetic surface, 17 cards have been canceled.</p><p>By the way, the forecast is for 70% chance of rain at Santa Anita March 6, when the rescheduled Sham is to take place.</p><p>GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN!</p><img src="http://cs.bloodhorse.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=96479" width="1" height="1">triple crownkentucky derbysanta anitaCaliforniashamsanta anita derbySo Long Synthetic - By Dan Liebmanhttp://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2010/01/21/so-long-synthetic-by-dan-liebman.aspxThu, 21 Jan 2010 14:15:00 GMTb1464f20-99eb-45e5-b651-41da03ecff36:90068dliebman@bloodhorse.com94http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=90068http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2010/01/21/so-long-synthetic-by-dan-liebman.aspx#comments<p>Living in Kentucky, I don’t often attend the races in California. But I certainly see many simulcast races. And I definitely have my opinion on synthetic surfaces.</p><p>Attending the 2009 Breeders’ Cup, I found myself dumbfounded by how much water was being put on the track between races. I thought having a synthetic surface meant less maintenance and little need for water? One of the selling points, as I understood it, was you would never have an off track because of the excellent drainage. Putting an excessive amount of water on a surface upon which it would drain through quickly seemed, well, both silly and illogical.</p><p>Fast forward to Jan. 18, when I heard the races were cancelled at Santa Anita because of rain, followed quicky by the word that Santa Anita may return to a dirt surface. Now Santa Anita has cancelled the races for Jan. 21, though with the amount of rain hitting the Southern California area, this might have happened no matter what the surface.</p><p>Despite the frustration surely felt by track management, and the inconvenience to trainers, it was hard not to laugh.</p><p>Even those who support synthetic surfaces—and this is certainly not a total condemnation of them—understand how wise it would be to replace Santa Anita’s surface with dirt, which should have been done in 2008 when the initial problems caused the track to be ripped up and replaced.</p><p>The California Horse Racing Board, which had mandated the installation of synthetic surfaces at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, and Del Mar, would have allowed Santa Anita to go back to dirt. Yet the decision was made to give synthetic another try.</p><p>Frank Stronach, whose Magna owns Santa Anita, has never been a fan of synthetic surfaces. I have always thought Stronach correct when he said, parenthetically, “Spent the same amount of money on your dirt surface and you will have a good surface.”</p><p>How Stronach let them convince him to “re-install” a synthetic surface I don’t know.</p><p>Perhaps it is that synthetic surfaces simply work better in areas with colder climates (such as Woodbine and Turfway Park), or places with a small number of racing dates and small horse populations (like Keeneland). Again, I don’t know.</p><p>But I do know the surface at Santa Anita was a disaster and a decision to return to dirt seems to make sense.</p><img src="http://cs.bloodhorse.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=90068" width="1" height="1">santa anitasyntheticPro-RideCHRBstronachBuilding Blocks - by Dan Liebmanhttp://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2009/03/10/Building-Blocks.aspxTue, 10 Mar 2009 13:05:00 GMTb1464f20-99eb-45e5-b651-41da03ecff36:33079Blood-Horse Staff11http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=33079http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2009/03/10/Building-Blocks.aspx#comments<p>It was a casual introduction, nearly 25 years ago now, at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November breeding stock sale. Remember his name, the man said, because you are going to hear a lot from him. We’ve all heard that before; only this time it was true—we have heard a lot from Frank Stronach in the ensuing years.<br><br>Some people, such as Stronach, are builders. He built Magna International into a leading global supplier of auto parts. Then, in the mid-1980s, fueled by a passion for the horse and the sport of horse racing, he began building a breeding and racing operation that became Adena Springs and Stronach Stables. The past five years in a row, Adena Springs has been named the Eclipse Award-winning breeder. Stronach has picked up four statues earned as leading owner as well.<br><br>With so much success breeding and racing horses, only a builder such as Stronach could sell the land upon which his Thoroughbreds were foaled and raised in Kentucky (he also owns farms in Canada and Florida) and construct a new farm from the ground up. But he did just that, selling one farm near Versailles and building a new Adena Springs near Paris.<br><br>Stronach had dreams of more than just breeding and racing horses. He envisioned turning racetracks into entertainment centers, where customers would not only wager on the races, but also see a movie, shop at a mall, and eat a nice meal. So he began buying racetracks.<br><br>In less than a year, starting in December 1998, Stronach-controlled Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC) bought five tracks, including Santa Anita Park and Gulfstream Park, for more than $330 million. He was not just buying racetracks but the valuable real estate upon which they sit.<br><br>Other tracks would be purchased in the ensuing years, as would a tote company and the land upon which was built the Palm Meadows training facility in Florida.<br><br>But something else was being built along the way—a huge pile of debt. That debt led MEC to what seemed inevitable for many months: a bankruptcy filing. On March 5, MEC filed for Chapter 11 protection, the day a huge note was coming due. Losses have totaled roughly $300 million over the past three years.<br><br>The largest secured creditor of MEC is MI Developments (MID)<style>efinitions */
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--> </style><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Lucida Grande','serif';"></span>, the real estate subsidiary of Magna International that has loans to MEC totaling $372 million. MID, controlled by Stronach, will continue to loan funds to MEC to continue operations and will also purchase Gulfstream, Lone Star Park, and Golden Gate.<br><br>Other tracks, such as Santa Anita, Laurel and Pimilco, Remington Park, and Thistledown, will continue to operate as debts are paid and assets are sold. Each of those tracks may be sold.<br><br>MEC’s problems are exacerbated by numerous factors, among them the global economic crisis. Hard hit is the automobile industry, which has dramatically affected Magna International. The company reported fourth-quarter losses of $148 million.<br><br>This is not a good time to be selling a racetrack, or most other properties for that matter. Real estate values are considerably lower than when MEC purchased, within a few months of each other in 2002, a majority interest in the Maryland Jockey Club tracks of Pimlico and Laurel for $117.5 million and Lone Star Park for $100 million.<br><br>It is doubtful any track purchased by MEC can be sold for a price close to what the company originally purchased it for, because in addition to depressed real estate prices, wagering continues to decline nationally, falling 6.76% in January and February after dropping 20.3% in December.<br><br>Shareholders of MID are obviously not pleased with losses associated with helping finance the dreams and passions of company founder Frank Stronach. But dreams and passions are important, and we cannot fault Stronach for his strong belief and faith in our industry.<br></p><img src="http://cs.bloodhorse.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=33079" width="1" height="1">what's going on heredan liebmansanta anitaMECadena springsmagnafrank stronachgulfstream parkCup Cuts - by Dan Liebmanhttp://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2008/12/16/Cup-Cuts.aspxTue, 16 Dec 2008 14:24:00 GMTb1464f20-99eb-45e5-b651-41da03ecff36:23513Blood-Horse Staff14http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=23513http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2008/12/16/Cup-Cuts.aspx#comments<p>The first Breeders’ Cup was held at Hollywood Park Nov. 10, 1984. But in January of that year, long before the first event day, nominators began receiving checks from another of the fledgling organization’s programs, the $10-million Premium Awards.<br><br>Calder Race Course was the first track to run a stakes enriched with supplemental monies from the Breeders’ Cup, with 428 stakes at 85 racing associations in North America designated to receive funds to boost their stakes programs.<br><br>An examination of the percentage of non-restrictive stakes at each track determined the allocations, with Breeders’ Cup and track officials then determining which races would have their purses increased. Nominated horses would run for the entire purse; non-nominated horses only for the money from the racing association.<br><br>In addition, foal and stallion nominators would receive awards, a way to earn back a portion of the dollars breeders pay to fund the Breeders’ Cup.<br><br>Over the ensuing decades, the Premium Awards program has been worth a varying number of dollars, enriched different numbers of stakes, and was even sponsored for several years by Budweiser. Now, it has been discontinued.<br><br>In a memo to racing officials Dec. 11, Breeders’ Cup senior vice president Pam Blatz-Murff cited “anticipated losses in nominations revenue and the worldwide economic downturn” as causing a decrease in Breeders’ Cup revenue in 2009 of more than $10 million. The stakes program was cut, as was, the memo said, “more than $5 million in television and marketing spending.” <br><br>With premium stakes allocations now withdrawn, racing offices, Blatz-Murff said, should “rewrite your condition and stakes books to reflect this change.”<br><br>What a week for racetracks. In addition to the Breeders’ Cup bombshell, Santa Anita announced a 10% across-the-board purse cut and Calder was forced to eliminate three grade III $100,000 stakes races. This all comes on the heels of November’s significant drop in handle.<br><br>When the Breeders’ Cup began in 1984, its championship event day consisted of seven races with purses totaling $10 million. In 1999, the Filly &amp; Mare Turf (gr. IT) was added, and the purses rose to $13 million. In 2007, flush with money from rising stud fees and profitable investment accounts, Breeders’ Cup expanded, adding three races and changing the event to stretch over two days. This year, the program expanded to 14 races featuring purses worth $25.5 million.<br><br>Now, with the stock market in turmoil and stud fees falling, Breeders’ Cup officials were forced to make some hard decisions. But it is difficult to know the full financial picture, because though funded for 25 years by breeders, the Breeders’ Cup does not issue an annual report to the industry.<br><br>Unfortunately, in deciding where to cut costs, the Breeders’ Cup has opted to cut a program that stretches across North America and rewards more nominators and horsemen in favor of two days of racing and a total of 14 races.<br><br>The Breeders’ Cup is one of the few ideas in racing that has actually endured, but it has not caught on with general sports fans. Few know it by name and the television ratings have never taken off. The Classic (gr. I) will never replace the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) as the race non-racing fans can identify with.<br><br>On the other hand, the stakes program was a way to enhance stakes at large and small tracks alike. Whether the race was increased from $20,000 to $25,000 or from $200,000 to $300,000, it was a chance for eligible horses to earn more and for owners, breeders, jockeys, and trainers to be rewarded for supporting the program.<br><br>Racing secretaries and stakes coordinators are understandably disappointed by the decision. Many breeders will be, as well. Tough times lie ahead for breeders. Now they have fewer chances to recoup some of their nomination money.<br><br>Scaling the event back to one day to save the Premium Awards would have helped more horsemen. <br></p><img src="http://cs.bloodhorse.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=23513" width="1" height="1">dan liebmanbreeders' cupcalderPam Blatz-Murffsanta anitapremium awards program